OCA "hopeful" of holding Asian Beach Games in Chinese city of Sanya in November

The Olympic Council of Asia on Tuesday said it remained "hopeful" of hosting the sixth Asian Beach Games at the Chinese city of Sanya in November, despite that country still reporting COVID-19 cases.

The OCA said it has received encouraging words from the organising committee of the Asian Beach Games set to take place from November 28 to December 6 this year, where 45 member countries are expected to participate in 17 sports.

This was after Sanya Vice Mayor Zhou Jun informed the OCA that the resort city in tropical Hainan province has not registered any new COVID-19 cases for over two months.

"The OCA has been in regular contact with the organising committee and Chinese Olympic Committee over the past three months and we have been very impressed with how the authorities have handled the COVID-19 outbreak in Sanya and Hainan province," OCA Director General Husain Al-Musallam said in a statement.

"We remain hopeful that our Asian Beach Games can go ahead as planned in seven months' time. We will continue to monitor the situation with the organising committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee and with all our National Olympic Committees in the five zones of Asia."
"As of 24:00 on April 13, Hainan reported a total of 29 asymptomatic cases, including 18 cases in Sanya. A total of 22 cases were freed from quarantine, while seven cases are still under medical observation. Among the 29 asymptomatic patients, seven cases were imported from abroad."